Styrofoam has had a terrible rep with environmentalists for quite some time now, but here’s a breakthrough that could change that – well, at least in some applications. According to the folks at Engadget[2], researchers at the University of Illinois[3] have discovered that by using styrofoam beads, they can create an electrode porosity of 94 percent, allowing for batteries that charge and discharge in mere seconds.

Basically, the styrofoam beads allow a near maximum surface area of the electricity conductor (electrode) to make contact with the battery material, allowing batteries to charge within 20 seconds and discharge within 2.7 seconds. The downside is that unlike the Evatran wireless charger[4] we featured a few days ago, these EV batteries won’t reach maximum capacity and will have a shorter range than other ultra-fast chargers.